Mini Fridge Reviews

Updated August 2012

Mini fridges aren't as energy-efficient as full-size refrigerators, and because they're small, they typically lack freezer compartments and storage bins. But if space is tight, and all you want to do is keep a few items cool, a mini fridge can be a useful appliance.

Compact mini fridge

If all you need is a small refrigerator to keep drinks cold, reviewers say the 1.8-cubic-foot Danby DAR195BL is your best bet. Like full-size refrigerators, the Danby uses a compressor -- rather than a thermoelectric cooler, as other mini fridges do -- making it energy efficient. There's no freezer compartment, but given how lousy (and tiny) most mini-fridge freezers are, reviewers say that's not a big deal. At just 20 inches tall and deep and 17.5 inches wide, the unit easily fits on a countertop or under a desk, and the scratch-resistant top can be used for extra storage space. The fridge has two adjustable wire shelves, as well as room for six cans and a 2-liter bottle in the door. In general, owners praise this model, but a few say the temperature dial (which is located on the back of the fridge) is hard to reach. The Danby 195BL carries an 18-month warranty.

Larger mini fridge

The Danby DAR440 offers everything the Danby 195BL does -- just more of it. Like its smaller sibling, this 4.4-cubic-foot mini fridge is Energy Star-rated. and it lacks a freezer compartment. This model has three adjustable wire shelves, along with room for eight cans, a 2-liter bottle and two bins in the door. Available in either black or white, this fridge is equipped with an interior light, an easy-to-reach thermostat inside and a reversible door. Owners are nearly universal in their praise of the Danby DAR440, although a few say it's noisy. The mini fridge carries an 18-month warranty.

Choosing the Best Mini Fridge

As a class of appliances, compact
refrigerators don't perform nearly as well as full-size refrigerators. Freezer performance suffers in particular, reviewers say, and we read numerous
owner complaints about mini fridges breaking down -- often after only a few
months of use. With less insulation, compact fridges use more energy per cubic
foot than full-size refrigerators. That said, mini refrigerators are well
suited for a dormitory room, office, wet bar or anywhere space is too limited
to make a large refrigerator practical. If you're looking to store wine at
proper temperature, a mini fridge is not recommended; instead, you'll need a wine cooler.

Higher-quality
mini fridges use compressors, -- just like full-size refrigerators do -- to
regulate temperature. Cheaper models rely on thermoelectric (Peltier) coolers, which
use electrical currents to keep cool. Generally speaking, mini fridges that use
thermoelectric cooling are sufficient for chilling drinks, but little else.
They cannot maintain temperatures below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's threshold for safe food storage, and they are not
as energy efficient as compact refrigerators that use compressors.

It's
important to know which type of cooling system is used before buying a mini
fridge, especially if you plan to store food in it. Most thermoelectric mini fridges are
identified as such on packaging. If you are unsure, check the product specs: If
they state that the unit cools a certain number of degrees below ambient
temperature, or that it must be unplugged intermittently, it's a thermoelectric
style fridge.

Danby dominates mini fridge reviews

Although
some well-known companies (including GE, Frigidaire and Magic Chef) produce
mini fridges, there are also a number of obscure brands out there, too, and
many of them fare poorly in reviews. In fact, when it comes to quality, one
company -- Danby -- dominates the compact refrigerator product category.

The
smallest mini fridges (sometimes called cube fridges), are good for keeping
beverages cool and little else. Most of these models are about 17 to 21 inches
square in size -- small enough to fit beneath a desk -- inexpensive and usually
made of cheap components that make them inefficient and unreliable. One notable
exception is the Danby DAR195BL(*Est. $120). This Energy Star-rated mini
fridge is fairly small -- just 1.8 cubic feet -- but it maximizes that space by
eliminating the freezer compartment. Although this may seem like a drawback,
experts say the freezer compartments on most mini fridges are too small to be
of use and rarely keep food frozen.

Though
small, the Danby has several useful features that owners praise in reviews. It
has two adjustable wire shelves (one full-size, one half as deep), as well as a
rack in the door that holds six cans and a bin that can accommodate a 2-liter
bottle. It also has a reversible door (meaning it can be mounted to open from
the left or the right), automatic defrost and a scratch-resistant black finish.
Unlike some larger models, it lacks an interior light.

Reviewers
generally praise this mini fridge. PlanetGreen.com names the DAR195BL one of
the most energy-efficient compact refrigerators available, and nearly 30 owner
reviews at CompactAppliance.com give it an average score of 4.9 stars out of 5.
Users say the unit is relatively quiet and maintains a constant temperature,
although a few complain that the temperature dial is inconveniently located on
the back of the unit. Nearly 50 owners posting to Amazon.com give this model an
overall average of 4 stars out of 5 and say that it performs well, although some report mechanical
problems and some say they received units that had been damaged in shipping. A
dozen owners gave the DAR195BL a unanimous 5-star rating at HomeDepot.com. The
Danby carries an 18-month warranty, and the company sells a separate extended
warranty.

A
less expensive cube fridge, the 1.7-cubic-foot Magic Chef MCBR170
is also considered a good value. Like the Danby model, this fridge uses a
compressor and has a reversible door; unlike the Danby, it has a freezer
compartment. It has one interior
adjustable shelf and two in-door shelves with room for tall-bottle storage. More
than 50 users posting to HomeDepot.com give the Magic Chef MCBR170 an overall
average rating of 4 stars out of 5, with some saying that it chills beverages and
fresh foods effectively and operates quietly. It also gets about 10 reviews on
Walmart.com, with most owners praising it for being, as one reviewer put it,
"cold, cold, cold" -- although another user complains that it is noisy. Reviewers
in one professional test report poor energy efficiency and poor freezer
performance, but these are common complaints about cube fridges in general.

Larger models
offer more storage space

Midsize
mini refrigerators cost slightly more than cubes, but they perform better with
roughly the same footprint. The larger models are about 24 to 28 inches tall
and have a capacity of 2.5 to 2.8 cubic feet.

One
well-reviewed midsize model is the 2.5-cubic-foot Danby DAR259(*Est. $150).
Like the DAR195BL, this compressor-powered model is Energy Star-rated and lacks
a freezer compartment (again, reviewers say that's no loss). It features
automatic defrost and has three adjustable wire racks, as well as an eight-can
rack and 2-liter bottle storage in the door. It is available in white or black
and carries an 18-month warranty. We found numerous complimentary owner reviews
for this model at Walmart.com, ABT.com, AJMadison.com and CompactAppliance.com.
The few users who give this small fridge less than a 4-star rating generally
report shipping damage, rather than problems with the actual unit.

The
Haier ECR27(*Est. $130) 2.7-cubic foot refrigerator is another Energy
Star-rated midsize model. Standard features include black or white finish, a
half-width freezer and two full-width door shelves, one of which accommodates
up to three 2-liter bottles. Unlike the Danby, it must be manually defrosted.
This fridge is too new to garner a significant number of reviews, but previous
Haier models have been well rated.

The
largest mini fridges, sometimes called counter-height compact refrigerators, tend
to perform better and more efficiently than smaller models. Among
counter-height models, the 4.4-cubic-foot Danby DAR440(*Est. $200) earns the
best reviews. Like both smaller Danby models, the DAR440 is Energy Star-rated
and lacks a freezer unit. This model has three adjustable wire
shelves, along with room for eight cans, a 2-liter bottle and two bins in the
door.

In
addition, it has reversible door hinges (so it can be adjusted to open from either
the left or right), automatic defrost and an interior light. Like its smaller
siblings, the DAR440 receives excellent scores from owners -- 4.5 stars from
nearly 270 reviewers at Walmart.com, with most complaints targeting shipping
damage. It also makes Bestcovery.com's list of five recommended dorm fridges.

A few mini
fridges have separate freezer compartments

If
you want a compact refrigerator but need a reliable freezer that can hold more
than a single ice-cube tray, consider a two-door model. Two-door units have
separate refrigerator and freezer compartments, and owners say freezer
performance tends to be as good as a full-size fridge. Of course, extra
insulation is required for the freezer, meaning that two-door models offer less
capacity than comparably sized single-door models.

One
of the least expensive two-door mini fridges is the Emerson CR500(*Est. $190),
which has a capacity of 3.1 cubic feet, with 2.2 cubic feet devoted to the
refrigerator compartment. It has two adjustable wire shelves and a vegetable
drawer, with room in the door for tall bottles and several cans. There are also
reversible door hinges and an interior light, as well as a rack on the freezer door
for extra storage. Nearly 20 users posting reviews to Amazon.com give the CR500
an average 3 star rating. Reviewers praise the freezer's performance, although
some report mechanical problems with the unit, and some say the refrigerator
compartment doesn't chill as well as they'd like.

Finally, the 3.3 cubic-foot Haier HNDE03VS(*Est. $200) has similar features to the Emerson CR500, with a few extras including
glass shelves and a glass-covered vegetable crisper. Sixty owner reviews at
HomeDepot.com give it an average rating of 3.4 stars. Owners praise its roomy
interior and freezer performance freezer, but some report mechanical failures
and say the fridge does not cool adequately.

Expert & User Review Sources

The
only multiproduct test of compact refrigerators comes from ConsumerReports.org
(available to subscribers), which rates 15 models based on performance, energy
efficiency and noise level. However, most of these models have been discontinued. We did find many useful
owner reviews of current products on a range of retail websites, including
Walmart.com, Amazon.com, CompactAppliance.com, HomeDepot.com and
AJMadison.com. Finally, we considered ratings and
reviews on PlanetGreen.com, an environmental website, as well as
Bestcovery.com, a consumer-product review site,
although neither indicates if, or how, products were actually tested.

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